Sen. Rand Paul on Last Episode of Freedom Watch

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Sen. Rand Paul on Last Episode of Freedom Watch

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Ukraine "started with Benghazi"

He"s not just smart, he"s Sunday show smart.

Oh, Sen. Lindsey Graham. If you didn’t exist we’d have to make you up.

It started with Benghazi. When you kill Americans and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression. #Ukraine
— @GrahamBlog

The perfect distillation of Republican genius, right there.

Daily Kos

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Ukraine "started with Benghazi"

Sen. Reid: The Koch Brothers Are "Un-American"

SEN. HARRY REID: What is going on with these two brothers who made billions of dollars last year in an attempt to buy our democracy is dishonest, deceptive, false and unfair. Just because you have huge amounts of money, you should not be able to run these false, misleading ads by the hundreds of millions of dollars. They hide behind all kinds of entities, Mr. President. It’s not just their front organization, Americans for Prosperity, but they give money to all kinds of organizations, lots of money. You see, when you make billions of dollars a year you can be as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be. It’s too bad that they’re trying to buy America, and it’s time that the American people spoke out against this terrible dishonesty of these two brothers who are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Reid: The Koch Brothers Are "Un-American"

Sen. Rand Paul Interviewed By 4th Grader For School Project

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke with Clay W. for Potter Gray Elementary School 4th Grade project. Paul talks about how often he is in Washington, his favorite hobbies, if he is going to run for president and more.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Rand Paul Interviewed By 4th Grader For School Project

NAACP Stands by Chapter President Calling Sen. Tim Scott a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

Mediaite.com:

The NAACP’s North Carolina President Rev. William Barber II ignited a firestorm when, in an extensive profile in a South Carolina paper, he attacked Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as a being a puppet and a tool of the “extreme right wing.” Scott did not respond in kind, but Republican officials demanded that Barber and the NAACP disavow those comments. Far from distancing themselves from Barber or his statement, the NAACP issued a statement defending the North Carolina-based chapter official and standing by his comments. 

“A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” Barber said of Scott, one of just two African-Americans in the U.S. Senate.

“Dr. King emphasized love and justice rather than extremism,” a statement issued to Fox News read. “Unless we stand for justice we cannot claim allegiance to or pay homage to Dr. King.”

“In a state such as South Carolina, politicians, whether they be black or white, should not be echoing the position of the far right,” the statement concluded. 

RELATED:  Sen. Tim Scott Responds to NAACP Official Who Called Him a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’
Politik Ditto

NAACP Stands by Chapter President Calling Sen. Tim Scott a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

NAACP Stands by Chapter President Calling Sen. Tim Scott a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

Mediaite.com:

The NAACP’s North Carolina President Rev. William Barber II ignited a firestorm when, in an extensive profile in a South Carolina paper, he attacked Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as a being a puppet and a tool of the “extreme right wing.” Scott did not respond in kind, but Republican officials demanded that Barber and the NAACP disavow those comments. Far from distancing themselves from Barber or his statement, the NAACP issued a statement defending the North Carolina-based chapter official and standing by his comments. 

“A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” Barber said of Scott, one of just two African-Americans in the U.S. Senate.

“Dr. King emphasized love and justice rather than extremism,” a statement issued to Fox News read. “Unless we stand for justice we cannot claim allegiance to or pay homage to Dr. King.”

“In a state such as South Carolina, politicians, whether they be black or white, should not be echoing the position of the far right,” the statement concluded. 

RELATED:  Sen. Tim Scott Responds to NAACP Official Who Called Him a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’
Politik Ditto

NAACP Stands by Chapter President Calling Sen. Tim Scott a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

Va. State Sen. Deeds Returns to Work After Stabbing by Suicidal Son

Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds is back at work, a return to the Senate less than two months after being stabbed by his mentally ill and suicidal son.

Deeds, 55, his face still bearing scars from the Nov. 19 attack by 24-year-old son, Austin “Gus” Deeds, who fatally shot himself in the attack, returned Wednesday for the Senate’s opening session, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

“Everybody was very happy to see him,” Democratic state Sen. John Edwards told the newspaper. “He and his family have been through hell and we all want to support him in any way we can.”

The Times-Dispatch said Deeds offered thanks for the support of fellow senators, saying repeatedly “I appreciate it,” and continued to work even after the session recessed.

“He seemed to be determined to get back to work,” Edwards said.

Colleague Sen. Phillip Puckett told the Times-Dispatch Deeds is “still real emotional about Gus. Coming today was a big thing for him.”

Since the tragedy, Deeds, the 2009 Democratic nominee for governor, has vowed to improve the delivery of mental health services in Virginia, fixing a system he believes failed his son.

“As long as I’ve got something left to do, I’ll keep going,” Deeds told a local newspaper, the Times-Dispatch reported.

“It shows the love and affection he had for Gus,” Puckett told the Times-Dispatch. “It would have been easy to walk away and quit. But he wants to be able to do something positive, to make a difference. To make sure other families don’t have to deal with what he did.”

© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Newsmax – America

Va. State Sen. Deeds Returns to Work After Stabbing by Suicidal Son

Fired Sen. Alexander Aide Allegedly Had Hundreds Of Child Porn Videos

The former top aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) who was arrested Wednesday had hundreds of videos depicting child pornography on a hard drive, according to new court documents. 

In a criminal complaint filed on Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., a U.S. Postal Inspector described how authorities investigating a website that offered DVDs featuring nude young boys identified Ryan Loskarn, Alexander’s former chief of staff, as a customer back in 2010. In October of this year, the document states, investigators identified Loskarn’s residential IP address on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file-sharing network offering files for download with names that suggested child pornography.  

Agents downloaded identical videos from the Gnutella network, and found one that depicted a man performing sexual acts with a prepubescent girl. 

On Wednesday, law enforcement agents descended on Loskarn’s Washington, D.C. residence and executed a search warrant. They retrieved a portable hard drive — which they believe Loskarn had placed on a snowy ledge outside one of the home’s windows when they arrived. On the hard drive, authorities found “hundreds of videos depicting underage boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” among other videos containing child pornography. 

Loskarn was expected to appear in court Thursday to face charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. Alexander announced on Wednesday that he had fired Loskarn, and replaced him with a new chief of staff. 

Read the complaint (warning: the document contains explicit descriptions of child pornography):

Ryan Loskarn Complaint

All TPM News

Fired Sen. Alexander Aide Allegedly Had Hundreds Of Child Porn Videos

Conservative Firebrand Challenges Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn

Enlarge image i

Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, second from right, participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with House Speaker John Boehner on Jan. 3. Stockman made the surprise move Monday to challenge Sen. John Cornyn in the 2014 Texas GOP primary.

Evan Vucci/AP

Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, second from right, participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with House Speaker John Boehner on Jan. 3. Stockman made the surprise move Monday to challenge Sen. John Cornyn in the 2014 Texas GOP primary.

Evan Vucci/AP

Another day, another GOP primary fight.

This time, it’s John Cornyn of Texas, the number two Republican in the Senate, who’s receiving a challenge from the right in 2014. Rep. Steve Stockman, a conservative firebrand, made the surprise move to enter the March 4 race Monday evening just before the state’s filing deadline.

The Lone Star State is now poised to become the latest battleground — and the first Senate test — in the ongoing civil war between the Republican Party’s establishment and Tea Party wings.

Six other GOP senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are facing reasonably competitive primary challengers next year. But the race in Texas is the only one where a GOP congressman is taking on an incumbent senator.

Stockman is no insider. After serving in the House for a single, controversy-filled term in the mid-1990′s, he was returned to Congress in 2012 to represent the newly-created, East Texas-based 36^th District. In his second tour, Stockman has picked up where he left off.

He has called for President Obama’s impeachment, compared him to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and established a brash Twitter presence. More recently, he came under fire for not properly disclosing his financial information.

Stockman’s bid against Cornyn, who’s seeking a third term, appears to be a fairly steep uphill climb. For starters, his fundraising hasn’t been up to par for a statewide hopeful: At the end of September, his campaign had just $ 32,000 on hand and was $ 163,000 in debt. Cornyn, on the other hand, had nearly $ 7 million in his campaign coffers and no debt.

Stockman’s hopes will depend on his grassroots support, and he’ll likely need some assistance from influential conservative outside groups — the kind that have already backed primary challengers to veteran GOP senators elsewhere this year.

One of those organizations, the Club for Growth, released a statement Tuesday saying it would not get involved in the Texas primary battle. The Tea Party-aligned Senate Conservatives Fund, which has expressed dissatisfaction with Cornyn in the past, and Madison Project have yet to announce their plans.

Another factor working against Stockman: time. Texas scheduled its primary for the first week of March, making it the first Senate contest of 2014. That means he has less than three months to organize a campaign infrastructure, raise a hefty amount of cash and make his name known statewide.

But Stockman’s campaign may have the Tea Party faithful thinking back to Sen. Ted Cruz’s rise in 2012, when he earned conservative grassroots support and defeated the favored establishment candidate in the GOP primary. For his part, Cruz has declined to back Cornyn’s re-election effort.

News

Conservative Firebrand Challenges Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn

Sen. John Cornyn on the Tea Party’s “impossible standard”

In an interview with Texas Monthly conducted in November but published Tuesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn — who is now facing a primary challenge from the extremely right-wing Rep. Steve Stockman — complains that the Tea Party has created “an impossible standard” for Republicans to live up to.

Comparing the Republican Party’s current absolutism to the more open-armed approach advocated by Ronald Reagan, Cornyn told the Texas Monthly that “I don’t know how we got off on this track, where some people are welcome in our party and some people are not. Hence my reference to Ronald Reagan’s line, ‘What do you call someone who agrees with you eight times out of 10? An ally, not a 20 percent traitor.’ Well, we’re at a point where you can agree with someone 98 percent of the time, but they think of you as a 2 percent traitor, which is just an impossible standard.”

---

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Expressing his disapproval for the RINO (Republican In Name Only) epithet popular among movement conservative circles, Cornyn said, “If I found someone who agreed with me nine times out of 10, I’d be working with them all I could. I wouldn’t be calling them names.”

Cornyn also took some shots at Tea Party-aligned activist groups like FreedomWorks, saying “there are several Washington, D.C.–based groups that want to cynically manipulate people for their own fundraising purposes.”

Read the whole interview here.

[h/t Talking Points Memo]

Salon.com

Sen. John Cornyn on the Tea Party’s “impossible standard”

Sen. Thad Cochran To Seek Re-Election In Mississippi

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Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on June 12.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on June 12.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Get ready for a bruising GOP primary battle in Mississippi.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said Friday he will seek a seventh term in 2014, setting the stage for a contentious contest that pits the Republican establishment against the Tea Party wing.

There had been speculation that Cochran, who turns 76 on Saturday and had raised relatively little cash, would retire rather than run again for the seat he first won in 1978. In October, Tea Party-backed state Sen. Chris McDaniel announced he would seek the GOP nomination whether or not Cochran ran again, and criticized the veteran incumbent’s vote to end the federal government shutdown.

Soon after, McDaniel received the endorsements of thee influential conservative outside groups: the Club for Growth, Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project. SCF’s super PAC arm, Senate Conservatives Action, ran a statewide television ad in support of McDaniel last month.

Cochran, the second most-senior Republican in the Senate and the top Republican on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee. Before Congress banned earmarks, he was recognized for his ability to direct federal funds to his home state.

After raising $ 53,000 last quarter, Cochran had just over $ 800,000 in his campaign account at the end of September — a relatively low amount for a sitting senator. But he’s expected to have the full backing of the GOP establishment during the campaign.

Cochran isn’t the only veteran GOP senator with a primary opponent next year, but he may be one of the more vulnerable. A November survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found Cochran with a 44 percent to 38 percent advantage over McDaniel. Fifty-five percent of the state’s GOP voters said they would prefer a more conservative alternative to Cochran.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander are among the Republicans facing challenges from the right.

The winner of the June primary will be the overwhelming favorite in the general election, as Mississippi is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country.

News

Sen. Thad Cochran To Seek Re-Election In Mississippi

Dem Sen. Mary Landrieu: I Would Vote For Obamacare Again

“The Affordable Care Act, as I said, the bill itself has very good concepts, and yes, I would support it again. But that doesn’t excuse the poor rollout of what should have happened. There should not have been a glitch in the software,” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) told WAFB-TV, a local CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Dem Sen. Mary Landrieu: I Would Vote For Obamacare Again

Sen. Cruz returns to Texas welcome after shutdown battle...

By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement, returned home to a rousing welcome in Texas on Saturday after his attempt to derail Obamacare with a shutdown of the federal government led to sharp criticism of his tactics as reckless and futile.

“After two months in Washington, it’s great to be back in America,” Cruz joked in speaking to a crowd of about 750 people in a packed downtown San Antonio hotel ballroom.

Cruz was greeted with an eight-minute standing ovation in an appearance organized by the Texas Federation of Republican Women. People in attendance, many of them wearing red to show their support for keeping Texas a conservative-leaning state, lined up to greet him.

The speech and another talk earlier in the day at a panel in Austin marked Cruz’s first public appearance in his home state of Texas since his part in the showdown in Washington over the rollout of Obamacare that resulted in a 16-day shutdown of the federal government that ended on Thursday.

A related stalemate over the debt limit threatened to lead to a default on U.S. government debt until the Senate on Wednesday voted 81-18 to end the crisis and the House of Representatives followed with a vote of 285-144 to approve the plan, allowing government to open without defunding Obamacare.

Cruz in his speech in San Antonio blasted Senate Republican leaders for “failing to stand with House Republicans against the train wreck that is Obamacare.”

He declined to criticize any Republicans by name.

While he said the agreement to end the shutdown and extend the debt ceiling was a “lousy deal for the American people,” Cruz said the battle he and other Republicans waged will end up helping his party.

Cruz became a lightning rod for criticism from Democrats and even from key Republicans when he staged a 21-hour filibuster-style talk on the floor of the Senate last month, as part of his attempt to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Texas senator, who has been in office for 10 months since his election last year, received scathing criticism from Democrats, the White House and even some of his fellow Republicans in the Senate during the shutdown and the debate leading up to it.

Senator John McCain from Arizona, a former presidential candidate, and Representative Peter King from New York have been two of the most vocal Republican opponents of Cruz’s tactics, with McCain calling Cruz and his allies “wacko birds.”

Cruz also took a hit in the polls. A Gallup poll released on October 10 found he had gained significant name recognition, but the percentage of Americans with an unfavorable view of him has jumped to 36 percent from 18 percent in June.

But the welcome Cruz received in Texas demonstrated his popularity among many Republican activists has grown.

In an interview with Reuters after his speech, Cruz said there is “a lot to be encouraged about” after the battle in Washington.

“We saw what can happen when the American people unite, when the American people stand up,” he said. “What the American people want is economic growth and job creation. They are crying out for something that fixes all the enormous damage that Obamacare is causing.”

(Additional reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Eric Walsh)

Drudge Report Feed

Sen. Cruz returns to Texas welcome after shutdown battle...

Sen. Collins: Furloughed Workers Getting Paid Should Return to Work

In a rare showing of bipartisan agreement over the ongoing government shutdown, President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. Susan Collins agree on one thing: furloughed employees should return to work because they will be paid for the unscheduled vacations.

The House has already passed a bill to reimburse employees for all pay lost as a result of the shutdown, and Obama has agreed to sign the measure.

In addition, Obama ordered all of his furloughed staff back to the White House “saying they’re getting paid, there’s no sense in them sitting at home,” said CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.”

“Why not just do that?” Crowley asked Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine.

“We should and that’s what I did in my office,” Collins responded.

“I had furloughed most of my staff, but if they’re going to be paid, they should be at work,” Collins said.

Related stories:

Sen. Manchin: Government Shutdown Is ‘Self-Inflicted Pain’

States to Pay Feds Millions to Reopen National Parks

© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Newsmax – America

Sen. Collins: Furloughed Workers Getting Paid Should Return to Work

Sen. Collins: Furloughed Workers Getting Paid Should Return to Work

In a rare showing of bipartisan agreement over the ongoing government shutdown, President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. Susan Collins agree on one thing: furloughed employees should return to work because they will be paid for the unscheduled vacations.

The House has already passed a bill to reimburse employees for all pay lost as a result of the shutdown, and Obama has agreed to sign the measure.

In addition, Obama ordered all of his furloughed staff back to the White House “saying they’re getting paid, there’s no sense in them sitting at home,” said CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.”

“Why not just do that?” Crowley asked Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine.

“We should and that’s what I did in my office,” Collins responded.

“I had furloughed most of my staff, but if they’re going to be paid, they should be at work,” Collins said.

Related stories:

Sen. Manchin: Government Shutdown Is ‘Self-Inflicted Pain’

States to Pay Feds Millions to Reopen National Parks

© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Newsmax – America

Sen. Collins: Furloughed Workers Getting Paid Should Return to Work

Sen. Boxer: Government Shutdown Threat "War On Women"

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says a potential government shutdown would be especially harmful to women. Boxer says Republicans have targeted a part of the Affordable Care Act that benefits women’s health.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Boxer: Government Shutdown Threat "War On Women"

Sen. Boxer: Government Shutdown Threat "War On Women"

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says a potential government shutdown would be especially harmful to women. Boxer says Republicans have targeted a part of the Affordable Care Act that benefits women’s health.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Boxer: Government Shutdown Threat "War On Women"

Sen. Corker: Obama "Seems To Be Very Uncomfortable Being Commander In Chief"

SEN. BOB CORKER (R-TN): I really do think they heard our credibility around the world just in the muddled way that they have dealt with this Syrian issue. It is just a complete muddlement, if you will. And I don’t know, the president just seems to be very uncomfortable being commander-in-chief of this nation.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Corker: Obama "Seems To Be Very Uncomfortable Being Commander In Chief"

Sen. Boxer Calls Out Sen. Paul Over Obama "al Qaeda Ally" Comment

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, joins Martin Bashir to argue in favor of President Barack Obama’s approach on Syria – and chastise her fellow senator, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, over his comment that President Obama is trying to ally the United States with al Qaeda.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Sen. Boxer Calls Out Sen. Paul Over Obama "al Qaeda Ally" Comment

Sen. McConnell to vote "no" on Syria resolution

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will oppose President Barack Obama’s resolution authorizing a military strike against Syria.

The Kentucky Republican says no vital national security risk is at play and there are too many unanswered questions about the United States’ long-term strategy in Syria.

McConnell says the proposal is, quote, “utterly detached from a wider strategy to end the civil war” in Syria.

McConnell becomes the first congressional leader to oppose Obama on his plans to punish Syria’s President Bashar Assad. The White House accuses Assad of using chemical weapons against his own people.

Congressional support for a strike has been weakening even as lawmakers scramble to respond to a Russian proposal to secure Assad’s chemical arsenal.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Politics Headlines

Sen. McConnell to vote "no" on Syria resolution